Follow the Horizon
by MarchingPatriot93
Summary: I was inspired by Aloy's-Arrow's fic "The Rest is Up to You", and began writing my own H:ZD fanfic. I loved the game, and adored the storyline, but was rather disappointed that there wasn't more about Elisabet that could be found. Following the same plot, Aloy and Varl find her in cryogenic stasis. What happens next will happen. Please read and enjoy this new story!
1. GAIA Prime

Aloy wandered aimlessly through Mother's Watch, surveying the repair effort as she walked, but shifted her gaze down to the ground as she began to climb the steps towards All-Mother Mountain. After defeating HADES, or at least remained of the sentient machine, Aloy had found herself returning home to the Sacred Lands, specifically to Mother's Watch, where she hid herself away in All-Mother Mountain, talking with the newly rebuilt GAIA function. Of course, GAIA wouldn't have been there without Sylens' help, for which Aloy was both thankful for, and resentful of. The man had his fair share of secrets, and refused to let Aloy meddle on his personal life, and she was merely a child, what could he have expected of her. But now, Aloy was turning into Sylens herself, secluding herself away inside of All-Mother Mountain, dedicating hours upon hours to talking with GAIA, sleeping as close to the AI as possible, and asking her question upon question of the world before. As she entered the main level of the ELEUTHIA facility, she made her way through the open door to her right, and began her descent down to the lower level of the facility, ever mindful of the loose cables that still hung freely around her. She touched the lower landing and made her way towards the control panel and took a seat on the stool that she had brought with her on one of her previous trips to the facility. With the touch of her palm to the Scanner, Aloy came face-to-face with the newly reconstituted GAIA. The AI immediately found a smile when her eyes landed on the young woman, so close in genetic date to her own creator, though an entirely different person (no thanks to Ted Faro for the destruction of her APOLLO sub-function).

"Aloy, it is always a pleasure to see your face." GAIA began warmly, the smile on her face reaching up to twinkle in her eyes.

"I have missed you GAIA. My travels are far lonelier without being able to talk to you." Aloy replied, a small fleck of a smile on her face.

"You sound... Sad. Disappointed perhaps. What troubles you young one?" GAIA asked as the figure of her knelt down to be eye-level with Aloy.

"There's just... I don't understand why it was me? Why I became this hero that was born to be Elisabet all over again. Don't get me wrong, everything that she did preserved life on the planet, but Faro basically dimmed that hope so drastically by destroying one of your essential sub-functions. And then the HADES sub-function generating a whole new swarm to destroy the terraforming system that Elisabet created when it became rogue... It's all so much GAIA, and there are still so many questions that I have that remain unanswered..." Aloy rambled, tears pricking the corners of her hazel eyes as she fought desperately with the emotions that ravaged through her heart.

"Aloy... My dear child... I am sorry that I have not done my duty in helping you understand all of the answers to the questions that you have, but perhaps I can help you find the answers that you seek." GAIA sounded almost hopeful, and even Aloy could sense that through the AI's gentle tone.

"What could that be GAIA?" The teenager asked, wiping the tears away from her now slightly puffy cheeks.

"Go to the ruins of GAIA Prime. Activate my panel in the Alpha room. I will do all that I possibly can for you." GAIA promised as she looked down at the young girl before her.

Aloy understood, and softly bid farewell to GAIA until she could find her way back into the old Prime facility. As she climbed back up the old elevator shaft and exited the facility, she collided with another Nora tribesman upon her entrance back into the heart of the mountain. Both bodies collapsed to the ground, and with a start, Aloy turned her gaze towards her new visitor. Her eyes locked with those of Varl, and she found herself smiling before making her way back onto her feet. The two of them brushed away the dust that had collected on their leathers before making eye contact once more.

"I came down when Teersa said that she had seen you come this way. I thought you would like some company." Varl spoke with a sheepish grin.

"That's a sweet offer, but I'm actually leaving now. I'm making my way back to GAIA Prime." Aloy replied as she took hold of her Sharpshot bow, which had fallen from her back when she fell.

"Where is GAIA Prime?" Varl asked.

"Out to the far north of Meridian, past a hoard of machines. The last time I was there, there were Stalkers, Watchers, Glinthawks, and a couple of Ravagers. Hopefully there won't be a Stormbird this time around. The facility is in a blown out portion of a mountain side." Aloy spoke; a tiny spark of anger flared behind her eyes as she thought of the machines at the base of the mountain. Involuntarily, she traced the scars on her left arm.

"I will go with you. Remember, the Matriarchs made those of us that traveled to Meridian Seekers. I should have no trouble following you to GAIA Prime." Varl concluded as he turned towards the hallway that lead out of All-Mother Mountain.

With a chuckle, Aloy followed her self-proclaimed companion out of the mountain, followed by the village, and finally through the Daytower gate after a few hours of walking. Along the way, the two companions fought a handful of machines, though nothing as dangerous as Corruptors or Deathbringers, and had shared a small dinner of rabbit along the way through the Sacred Lands. They talked for the remaining hours of travel between the Daytower gate and the way to GAIA Prime, and only stopped when they came upon the climb to the top of the mountain. Aloy, of course, led the way, having been through the path before. As she had thought, there was once again a hoard of machines to fight though, but it took far less time to accomplish with Varl at her side. The Stalkers were, of course, the primary challenge with their camouflage enhancement, and the Ravagers were no better, but they had finally been disposed of, and the duo once again made their way up the mountain side to the top where old, rusted steel littered the ground.

"I guess your Stormbird is avoiding you this time." Varl joked as he came to stand at Aloy's side.

"It would seem that way, but I'm not putting my guard down this time." Aloy replied back with a chuckle before she pressed onward through the snow; Varl was close at her heels.

As they continued, Aloy confidently led the way up to the entrance of GAIA Prime, and with practiced patience, slowly led Varl through the old facility. He marveled at all of the steel and technology around him, and had to stop as often as he could to look closely at the details of some piece of the facilities history. He stopped at the blasted hallway that would lead them to the other half of the facility, where Aloy recalled the Alpha control room was, and almost refused to cross the fractured steel.

"You're sure that this won't collapse when I try to come across?" He questioned, not trusting the metal before him.

"Varl, this this has been standing this way for nearly twenty years. You'll be fine." She laughed as she looked between one of her own tribe's Braves and the hunk of steel that made him shiver ever so slightly.

He finally garnered the confidence to cross the jagged steel by way of rope and footholds, and was now hunched over at Aloy's side trying to calm himself down.

"The great Varl, son of Sona, afraid of heights? I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself." Aloy teased before she began to walk away.

Varl, not wanting to be left behind in the unfamiliar facility, immediately ran to catch up to his companion. The two of them climbed through a few more empty shafts, and made their way up another blown apart flight of stairs before coming upon the Alpha control room. Varl stopped at the entrance when his eyes landed upon the corpses in the room. Aloy gently brought her hand to his shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze, and made her way further into the room.

"What... What happened to them Aloy?" He asked, confusion and sadness tinging his voice. He looked from the corpses to Aloy, who now stood rigid near the middle of the room.

"He killed them... He killed all of them, and left us with nothing of their history." She ground out, trying painfully hard to keep the rage from bubbling into her voice. She remembered the Hologram. She remembered how he had managed to override their core control system and prevent them from accessing any of the Alpha protocols. She remembered how the air rushed past her into the room when she opened the door. She remembered everything that Ted Faro had said in his holographic projection.

"What? Why would he do that? And who is He?" Varl asked, genuinely confused. The one thing that Aloy left out of her tales of travel across the land, was Ted Faro. She deliberately left out every word that he said, left out every image of him that she saw, ignored his hologram and opted to only listen to Elisabet. She never told anyone about Ted Faro, not even the Matriarchs.

"Ted Faro. He's the man that created the machines. He's the one who paid for them to be left in the ground. He's the one who killed these men and women, and left us without any knowledge of our ancestral past. He took everything we could have been away from us." Aloy practically exploded from the rage that burned in the pit of her stomach. She rounded on Varl, and if it weren't for the tears that were falling down her cheeks, he would have been absolutely terrified of her.

His heart softened for his friend, and without a second thought, he pulled her into him and just held her close. She rested her head on his chest, and was calmed by the gentle, steady beating of his heart. They stayed that way for only a few minutes, but within that time, their bond had only grown. Aloy was the one to pull away, and moved to wipe the tears away, but Varl had beaten her to it. He gently wiped away her tears with the pads of his thumbs. She looked up at him, completely dumbfounded by his show of affection towards her.

"You know, tears don't really fit you all that well. I'm too used to seeing the different War Chief that you are. So much like my mother, and yet so different. You carry yourself with pride and grace, and these tears do not befit a warrior of that status." Varl spoke gently, as if the bodies in the room could hear him if he spoke any louder.

Aloy could only manage a wet laugh in response before she turned away from Varl and made to look around the room. Before she did that, she made her way to the podium and touched her palm to the scanner. In moments, GAIA appeared before them in the holographic terminal in the middle of the table. Aloy looked up to her with a smile, which was returned by the AI, before her gaze traveled over to the other occupant of the room. Varl tried to shrink from her gaze, but couldn't find a way to make himself small enough.

"Aloy, who is your companion?" The AI asked as she looked between the two of them.

"This is Varl, a member of my tribe." Aloy began as she looked up at the AI. "Varl, this is GAIA. She's an AI that Elisabet created to combat the swarm. She's also the main reason that we are even here." Aloy introduced Varl to the one creation that was as close to Elisabet as she could get.

"Hello Varl, I am pleased to make your acquaintance." GAIA spoke gently with a smile as she looked at the young man before her.

"I believe that I should be the one saying that to you." Varl replied in awe as he looked at the AI before him.

GAIA smiled warmly at him before returning her gaze to Aloy, who was gazing up at her with the biggest smile on her face. GAIA knew exactly what she wanted, and after nearly one thousand years, she knew what needed to be done. With the physical show of a sigh, GAIA once more looked to Aloy, who now seemed to have deflated a little at GAIA's action. Feeling the need to brighten the young girl back up, GAIA consoles her by saying it was not a show of annoyance, but a show of nervousness. Without really waiting for Aloy to process the AI's statement, GAIA flared to life before the two of them. Varl pulled Aloy back from the burst of light, and just moments after it started, GAIA's display was over. It was at the moment that Aloy heard the shifting of steel and stone, and turned her head to the right. There, before her very eyes, another door appeared, and as it came to be, the dial in the center went from red to blue. Varl followed her gaze, and followed her as she began to walk towards this new room.

"Aloy... I hope that this helps you." GAIA called as she looked at the young woman's back. Aloy turned on her heel almost immediately.

"GAIA, if this turns out to be what I hope it will be, I could only wish that you had a physical form for me to hug." Aloy called back with the largest smile her face could hold.

The AI smiled back, almost as wide, as she watched the young duo make their way into the new room. With a small sigh of sadness, she glanced down at the corpses that were either sat in a chair, or sprawled out on the floor. This was not what Elisabet wanted. This was not how Zero Dawn was supposed to play out. HADES had run rampant after so long, and all she could do was blow the reactors to prevent HADES from taking control of the terraforming systems. All that Elisabet had worked for had gone rogue or became erratic. GAIA took one last look at the bodies around her, and could feel herself grieve over the loss of their lives. If Elisabet had only been there...

* * *

Aloy and Varl entered the side room, and the door closed behind them almost immediately, causing the two to turn around in surprise. Aloy went back over to the door and tried to open it, but to no avail. She turned back around and looked at Varl with a grim look etched into her features.

"Maybe there's another way out. I'm sure GAIA wouldn't just lock us in here with no way to leave." Varl tried to reassure Aloy to the best of his ability, but the look remained.

"I'm sure you're right, but what was the point of that door if it was only a one way entrance?" Aloy questioned as she began to move around the room.

As the duo came towards the center of the room, lights suddenly flickered to life, and the room was illuminated in the blue and purple glow that the remainder of the facility still had. As their eyes adjusted to the new, harsh light, they landed on a tube that rested against the far wall of the room, with a monitor next to it showing a picture of a human body and various highlighted regions. Aloy's curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly made her way over to the object of her fascination. When she got to it, she immediately scanned it with her Focus.

"Sylenz? Sylenz do you see this?" She asked, to what Varl thought was the wind, until he saw her hand up by her ear.

"I do Aloy... That is what the Old Ones referred to as Cryogenics. They would freeze the body while the person was still alive, though placed in a deep sleep, and would monitor them as they began to go into the stasis process. I am curious, though, as to how and when this process was completed? By the accounts that I was able to salvage, there was very little record of this having been possible." Sylenz recounted to Aloy through their Focus network.

"What do I do? Should I open it?" Aloy asked as she made to move her free hand towards the tube.

"No! If you do that, the body may go into shock and kill whomever is inside!" Sylenz all but yelled, causing Aloy to wrench her hand back to her side. "Go over to the control panel and try to bring the system back online. Or have GAIA help you." Sylenz offered.

Aloy did just that. When she looked at the panel and didn't see anything that looked familiar, she asked GAIA to help her. Surprisingly, GAIA was able to jump into the mainframe and reboot the system surprisingly quickly, and within a few moments, the screen began to show the cold parts on the body turn to various shades of yellow, orange, and red.

"Aloy, the system is back up and running, and should complete this heat-cycle within the next few minutes. Until then, please do not touch the stasis tube or the panel itself. I will take care of everything from here." GAIA's voice rang out through the room as Aloy made her way over to Varl.

The minutes felt like they dragged on for hours, but within time, the screen showed message after message, until GAIA finally said that Aloy and Varl could open the lid of the tube. The duo made their way over and each took hold of the latch that held the lid in place. Each of them, though they'd never admit it, was nervous to see the body of whomever was in cryogenic stasis within the tube, and admittedly took just a moment too long to open the lid. But when they finally did, Aloy stepped back in shock. The familiar red hair was the first thing that gave the person away, then their face, the outfit, and the watch around their wrist. A plain white band with a black screen attached to it. Aloy would recognize this figure anywhere, and was fully aware of who they were when their eyes finally shifted open.

Elisabet stared up at the ceiling above her, and slowly blinked her eyes into focus. After a few moments, she was able to move her fingers, followed by other extremities, and then finally turn her head. When she looked to her left, her eyes were immediately drawn to the mane of red hair that stood next to her, and then the hazel eyes that rested just below. Their eyes locked together, and Elisabet swore that she saw the teenage version of herself, but didn't think that it would be possible. Before she could even utter a word, GAIA's voice came over the remaining intercom in the room.

"Good evening Dr. Sobeck. Please wait for vitals verification."

Elisabet remained motionless while GAIA's scanners did their work, and her vitals were measured. She knew that her heart rate would be rather erratic, having just woken up from extended sleep and seeing a younger version of yourself, but she calmed herself as much as she could.

"Scan complete. Vitals are to near normal levels." GAIA concluded.

"Thank you GAIA." Elisabet replied, though her voice was scratchy and her throat was parched.

She began to shift around in the tube, and fought to get herself upright into a sitting position. Trying to support herself with her arms proved to be useless, as her muscles were still stiff and rather unusable. Before she fell back into the tube, however, she felt an arm wrap around her back to support her. She looked to her left and met hazel eyes and red hair once again. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Thank you..." She managed to get out before turning to look down at her legs.

"You're Dr. Sobeck..." Aloy whispered as she looked at the woman in her grasp.

"Yes, I am. But who are you? I don't recall having met you before." Elisabet replied as she shifted her legs over the side of the tube.

"Aloy of the Nora Tribe, though the tribe is not a true part of me." Aloy replied as she and Varl helped Elisabet stand up on solid ground once more.

"It's nice to meet you, Aloy. Who's your friend?"

"Varl. He's another member of the tribe who offered to come with me here." Aloy introduced Varl to Elisabet with practiced ease.

"It's very nice to meet you Dr. Sobeck." Varl commented as he helped Aloy guide the older woman around the room to circulate the blood back into her legs.

"Please, call me Elisabet or Lis. Dr. Sobeck is too formal for my taste anyways." Elisabet replied with a chuckle as she slowly extracted herself from her assistants.

"Very well Elisabet. Can you manage on your own now?" Aloy asked, hands still slightly outstretched so that she could grab Elisabet if she began to fall over again.

"I believe so, thank you Aloy." Elisabet replied as she took a few more steadying steps in a small circle.

"We should get back to the Sacred Lands. I'm almost certain that Sona will be looking for me soon." Varl almost cringed at the thought of his mother rampaging around the gate looking high and low for him.

"I'm sure when she sees me, all thoughts of hanging you by your ankles will be forgotten." Aloy smirked as she looked over at Varl.

"Ha ha, Aloy, very funny." Varl deadpanned as he looked at the redhead.

Elisabet smiled at the scene playing out before her, and suddenly, her interest in the young woman piqued once more. She sighed softly, almost uneasily, before turning towards the monitor that had been keeping her vitals for the last several hundred years, apparently. With a few pokes at the screen, she had pulled up the ELEUTHAIA Cradle facility, and the multitude of birth records from the last thirty years. As she skimmed through the files, she came upon one titled #LK1A1-4510 and clicked on it. In seconds, the file opened and the first thing that popped up was a photo of her. She tilted her head slightly in confusion before looking deeper into the file, finding date and time of "birth", as well as the genetic match data that proved Aloy to be a carbon copy of herself. GAIA must have had Aloy genetically created for the sole purpose of stopping something that only Elisabet's DNA could stop, which would require a complete genetic copy, but what? Elisabet pondered this question for only a moment longer before she felt a hand rest reassuringly on her shoulder. She turned to look at Aloy over her shoulder.

"Elisabet, we should get going. It'll be too dark to travel soon, and I'll need to find a way to get you down from this facility safely." Aloy commented as she looked at the older woman.

"I understand. Shall I wait here?" Elisabet asked as she turned to look at Aloy full on.

"Yes, and Varl will stay with you. We just discussed this plan." Aloy replied as she looked over at Varl with a small smile.

Varl made his way over to Elisabet's side and draped his furs around her shoulders. She nodded her thanks and wrapped it tighter around herself before joining him at the far side of the room and taking a seat on an old desk. Before the two of them could blink, Aloy had made her way out of the room and began climbing towards the roof.

"If anything, I'll take that Stormbird now. Or a group of Glinthawks... I won't be picky." She conceded as the snow began to nip at her exposed skin. Without a second thought, she continued her ascent.


	2. Back to the Cabin

**A.N: Part two of who knows how many. But I'm glad you guys are enjoying this little break I'm taking from my Skyrim fics.  
As always, please let me know how you like it so far. Part 1 got wonderful comments, and I appreciate the feedback.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

Elisabet lifted herself onto the old desk, careful of any jagged rocks that would happen to be where she intended to wait. Varl opted to lean against the wall, fiddling with an arrow to occupy his mind. The silence was comfortable, yet somewhat awkward as the two of them felt the barrage of questions plague both of their minds. Not being able to take the silence any longer, Varl finally spoke.

"So... You're one of the Old Ones..." He spoke softly, as if the walls themselves had ears.

"Old Ones?" Elisabet looked equal parts confused and offended by Varl's statement.

"Sorry, that's just how we refer those who came before us. Before our Tribe." Varl clarified, shoving the arrow back into the quiver at his hip.

"Oh... Well, I suppose I would be then, yes." Elisabet stated, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"What was it like?" Varl questioned, eyes twinkling with interest as he looked over at Elisabet.

"I guess not much is left of our civilizations in these Sacred Lands of yours." Elisabet stated before drawing a small breath.

"No... The closest I've even seen of your time is the door in All-Mother Mountain, but even that is only a small piece of your story." Varl spoke, running his hand though the braids on his head.

"Well... I hope you like stories, because this is a long one." Elisabet stated as she delved into a story of the Old Ones.

* * *

Aloy had reached an opening in GAIA Prime, surveying the area for anything that could help her get the three of them out of the facility and back to the Sacred Lands. She had thought about bringing Elisabet to Meridian, just to be safe, but then thought of Avad and the possibility of questions regarding the death of the Old Ones, and just how this one managed to survive their demise. No, she couldn't bring Elisabet to Meridian. The city, though more to her liking, could probably overwhelm her right out of cryo stasis. As she had contemplated, Aloy came up with her best temporary solution: keep her at Rost's cabin, at least until she warmed up to the idea of going to Meridian.

Drawing herself out from her thoughts, Aloy finally came upon an object of her search. Perched upon an old steel beam was a Stormbird, completely unaware of her presence, and facing out towards the open plains below the facility. A smirk crossed her lips as she inched her way up to the machine's back, spear drawn and ready to override it's functions. Regardless of HADES having been destroyed, Aloy still very rarely trusted the larger machines. Sure the Watchers, Striders, and Grazers had backed off of the aggression, but the larger machines she was still incredibly wary of. Involuntarily, she touched the scars that ran across her right arm as she gazed upon the machine before her.

Closing the distance, Aloy positioned herself behind the hulking beast, taking extra care not to make any noise as she moved from tail towards wing, spear positioned in front of her. Before the machine could even notice her, she had shoved the corruptor's override control towards the bird's wing and began to take control. In mere moments, the Stormbird turned to her with a gaze of blue in it's eyes, and lowered to the ground to allow Aloy to climb onto it's back. It took off from the ground the moment she had situated herself, and in minutes, they were at the door that she had climbed up from, with Varl and Elisabet staring up at the hulking machine before them.

"Come on, it's not going to bite." Aloy smirked as she looked between the two.

Varl had, of course, drawn his bow and had it pointed at the Stormbird, barely lowering it an inch before he spoke to Aloy.

"I've seen you do this, but still... I don't trust machines like this one." He ground out before finally dropping his bow to his side at Aloy's glare.

"You're right. I've seen your scars. I know how much you trust machines, so get on." Aloy spoke before having the Stormbird perch on the ledge to alloy Elisabet and Varl to climb on it's back.

As soon as everyone was situated, Elisabet sitting between Aloy and Varl, the Stormbird was once again in the air, heading towards the Sacred Lands, but specifically the Main Embrace Gate, where Varl was certain his mother was waiting for him. The three of the spoke constantly throughout the flight, with most of the conversation ending around Aloy and Varl asking endless questions about life on Earth before the Faro Plague. As they flew, Aloy asked Elisabet if it would be alright that she let her off at Rost's cabin, to which Elisabet agreed that it would be for the best, considering she would be considered an outside here among the Nora. The Stormbird came to rest just outside of the gate to the cabin, and Varl helped Elisabet to the ground before climbing back onto the machine's back. Aloy looked down at Elisabet and spoke.

"I'll be back soon. Sleep if you like, I'll try not to disturb you when I return." Aloy remarked as she repositioned herself on the machine.

"I'll wait for you. There's a lot that I'd like to ask you." Elisabet replied before waving the two warriors off and stepping a few feet back towards the gate.

"I won't be long. I'll just have to apologize to Sona for Varl, since he can't." Aloy teased, receiving a jab to the shoulder in response.

"I'm not going anywhere. Take your time, Aloy." She replied before turning towards the cabin and beginning to climb the steps.

Aloy smiled as she drove the Stormbird back into the air, gaining speed and altitude as she pushed on towards the gate; Varl clinging to her as the machine kept beating it's giant wings. A short ride later brought the main gate into view, and as they got closer, Aloy could hear Varl groan behind her. She looked closer and could finally make out Sona's braids against the scenery. Slowing the Stormbird so as to not give Sona another reason to rain arrows down on the duo, Aloy loudly announced their presence as she allowed the bird to descend. The Braves, of course, naturally drew their bows, but a harsh word from Sona brought them back to their sides, where they were now forced to watch the machine continue it's descent. It landed with a loud thud, rumbling the ground beneath the feet of all gathered at the gate, and the duo climbed down from the bird's back. Sona locked eyes with Varl before turning her hawk-gaze on Aloy.

"Sorry Sona. I asked Varl to go on a quick errand with me. Really I just wanted another voice with me." Aloy spoke as she looked at the War Chief with a solemn glance.

"Looks like I won't be hanging you upside down tonight. Instead, you'll be on guard duty for the next moon cycle." Sona remarked as she turned her head towards her remaining child.

"Yes War Chief..." Varl replied, bowing his head towards his mother before taking his spot at the post.

"Aloy, a word." Sona spoke as she moved towards the Stormbird. The two women stood beside the machine.

"Yes Sona?" Aloy asked as she looked into the elder's eyes.

"I know you mean well child, but he is all I have left. Consult me first before taking him on any more errands." Sona said as she gently took hold of Aloy's shoulders in her hands.

"I will, War Chief." Aloy replied before climbing back onto the bird's back.

The Braves all watched at the Stormbird screeched loudly and took to the sky once again. Aloy turned it's position back towards Rost's cabin, and began the short flight back. In her mind, all of Elisabet's responses tumbled around, filling her head with images of looming buildings and people everywhere, not divided among the vast expanse of land that they were now. Descriptions of these creatures called dogs and cats popped into her mind, and she pictured these small, furry things running around what Elisabet referred to as houses, which Aloy assumed that that was what they called their cabins. She saw images of families together for dinner at night, watching the sun set for the day, before heading back to their beds for the evening.

There were still so many things that she wanted to know, like why Faro created the swarm in the first place, and how they came to be these destructive robots that destroyed the Earth before GAIA was able to use the new terraforming system to bring the planet back to the way it was. She wanted to know how many people had actually been on the planet before they were all killed in the raids of the machines. She wanted Elisabet to share happy memories with her, and she could tell her all about Rost and his teachings, and how Teersa was the only Matriarch that actually had any inkling of kindness towards her, and how Lansra was now bowing at her feet in fear of her every time she entered All-Mother Mountain to visit with GAIA.

Aloy laughed out loud at the image of Lansra bowing down to her for the first time, as she had exited the ELEUTHIA facility the day she found out about her birth. The woman had cowered at her presence, and she could swear she saw the sweat beading on the woman's forehead. So drawn into her own thoughts, Aloy had just enough time to pull the Stormbird back as it had screeched at the sight of Rost's cabin against the mountain. Reigning the machine in, Aloy gently brought it down to the ground, jumped off of it's back, and quickly made her way up the steps before the override wore off. As soon as the machine's eyes turned orange, then back to blue, it flew off into the sky and made it's way back towards Meridian, and the GAIA Prime facility just beyond. Aloy made the final leg of the walk and slowly opened the door to the cabin, ever mindful that if Elisabet was sleeping, she wanted to be as quiet as possible. She poked her head around the door, and was not surprised to see the elder red-head passed out Rost's bed, turned on her side facing the doorway. Aloy smiled before coming fully into the cabin and making her way towards her own bed. The child in her thought briefly of crawling into the bed with her "mother", but she decided against it. Instead, she sat down on the edge of her bed and fell backwards into the furs, drifting off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

* * *

Aloy shifted slightly, her eyes blinking blearily up to the ceiling of the old cabin, sunlight filtering in through the small cracks between the wood. She rolled over onto her side, not having had the chance to sleep as deeply as she had last night, and tried to fall back into her dreams.

"Come on Aloy, rise and shine." She heart Elisabet call from over her shoulder.

Aloy's eyes snapped open at Elisabet's voice, and she launched into a sitting position, half turned to look at the elder woman. True to her eyes, there stood Elisabet in the middle of the cabin, still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. Aloy almost didn't believe it was real, to have Elisabet standing there, in Rost's cabin, looking over at her. She climbed out of bed and stood before her genetic mother, eyes locked together for just a moment before Aloy cleared her throat.

"I'd thought it was just a dream..." She whispered, eyes cast down to the floor.

"That what was?" Elisabet asked, concern lining her voice.

"You. That finding you in the ruins of GAIA Prime was all just some wild dream that I'd had." Aloy replied as she looked back up at Elisabet. Tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Aloy..." Elisabet soon closed the gap between the two of them and wrapped Aloy in her embrace, pulling the sullen young woman as close to her as she possibly could.

Aloy returned Elisabet's hug, and the two of them stood there for several moments before deciding to pull apart. Aloy reached up to brush the tears away, but Elisabet beat her too it, cupping her cheeks in her hands as she pressed her thumbs beneath Aloy's eyes.

"It's okay... Tears show that you're human. It's okay to show them." Elisabet whispered as she pulled Aloy close once again.

"You know... If you're gonna stay here for a while, we're gonna have to have you looking the part of a Nora." Aloy spoke softly as she pulled away, taking Elisabet's hands in her own for a moment before dropping hers to her side.

"Oh?" Elisabet questioned before looking Aloy over. "Oh... The outfit. I see. I suppose we should get started then." She spoke gently as she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

" _Must be a nervous habit... Would explain why do that sometimes.."_ Aloy thought as she glanced at Elisabet's hands before taking them in her own once again.

"It'll be fine. I can show you everything, and it'll be like you've lived here your whole life." Aloy enthused as a smile spread over her lips.

"Then lets get started." Elisabet conceded as a smile slowly came to her lips as well.

Aloy led her out of the cabin, but not before fitting her with a bow and quiver of her own. Of course, Aloy had all but outgrown all of the remaining bows in the cabin, and Rost's arms were far larger than hers, and required a different sized bow, but Aloy could craft a bow like no other. It took a few hours, but by the time the sun was high in the sky, the duo was outside and on the move. Aloy had taken the day to teach Elisabet how to hunt, starting with rabbits and racoons, and how to skin and tan the hides for the right consistency of leather. By the following afternoon, after the hide had tanned for the evening, Aloy was teaching Elisabet how to sew the material together to make a new outfit. There was some struggling, but Elisabet had managed to learn how to stitch the material together into a new top, followed closely by a new set of leggings. Aloy showed her how to dye the fabric to a color of her liking, as well as how to fit the top and bottoms to her figure. They gathered berries and some herbs that grew naturally around the cabin, and Aloy hunted down a boar for that evening, and before long they were sitting at the fire, boar meat roasting on spits and muddled berries being used to glaze the meat. Aloy kicked up the heat a bit by adding some more kindling to the flame before taking a seat back down next to Elisabet.

"You sure know a lot about survival." Elisabet noted as she looked over at Aloy.

"I had a great teacher. He was also a great father." Aloy commented as she thought of Rost.

"What was he like?" Elisabet asked, reaching over to gently rub Aloy's arm.

"Rost was always the teacher. He trained me from the time I was six, up until the Proving last year." Aloy paused as she thought of that day, so long ago, yet so fresh in her mind.

"Aloy... You don't need to continue if you don't want to." Elisabet pipped up as she looked at the vacant expression on Aloy's face.

"No... It's fine. Anyways, Rost was always teacher first, father second. He told me about the day I was given to him, about how Teersa was the only one who gave him permission to speak, and how he was allowed to name me, even though it is usually the mother that does so. He taught me how to track, how to hunt, and how to show mercy to everyone and everything. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be who I am right now." Aloy spoke softly as she watched the flames dance before her.

"He sounds like a great man." Elisabet said, gently squeezing Aloy's arm.

"He was... I wish he was still here." Aloy mumbled as she drew her knees up to her chest.

Elisabet was confused, and voiced her concern for Rost's absence. Aloy could only point down the path, where Elisabet could faintly make out a lone stone and a set of lit candles. Turning back to Aloy, she could see the pain in the young woman's expression, and softly excused herself. Walking down the path alone, Elisabet slowly came upon the small shrine that Aloy had pointed out. She walked up the small stones that made steps and knelt before the shrine; she reached out and gently ran her fingers over the carved stone that served as a reminder of a life no longer there. She remembered her own father's grave, now probably destroyed from the plague of Faro's robots. Her heart broke for Aloy, having just heard the story of how Rost was murdered by this group of rogues called the Eclipse at their annual Proving ceremony. Having to watch her father figure die as he sacrificed his own life for hers... Elisabet couldn't even begin to understand the depth of Aloy's grief. Elisabet sighed sadly as she drew her hand back to her side.

"She's amazing, you know... You should be proud of her. I am." She whispered before standing.

She looked down at the shrine once more before making her way back up to the fire, and the dinner that Aloy had made. She sat back down next to Aloy, and made her way as close to the girl as she could, gently wrapping her arm over her shoulders and pulling her into a small hug. Aloy reciprocated the gesture, then pulled away and handed Elisabet one of the small spits with a hunk of boar meat. The two of them ate in silence, only breaking it to ask the other a small question about their lives.

"What was it like?" Aloy finally asked, posing the same question Varl had the other day. Elisabet was actually waiting for this question.

"I suppose it was... By all accounts, it was certainly easier. We didn't have to hunt for food, or gather on our own. We had machines for that. We had machines for everything. While we were flying yesterday, we passed over so many destroyed cars and tanks, and even a few planes that had either crashed or were held at the airport." Elisabet began, but stopped and chuckled at Aloy's wrinkled nose and confused expression, "Don't worry, I'll explain everything. Patience Aloy."

"Rost taught me patience first." Aloy grinned as she looked over at Elisabet.

"We had so much, Aloy. We kept growing ourselves bigger and bigger until there was no room left. We kept building and building, and kept going into war after war, prompting Ted to build those robots in the first place. We were the creators of our own destruction, Aloy. But with GAIA, and you, that blighted past is long behind us." Elisabet finished, still holding onto Aloy's hand.

"It sounds like it was horrible. Like there was so much destruction, and no living." Aloy surmised, eyes locked on the fire before them.

"Exactly. Though, there were parts of it that were good. There were good times had with family, and friends made along the way. New places to be discovered, and new planets to travel to. We aimed so high for our species as a whole, all in order to make your present better. Which brings me to question why you are a tribe instead of a city..." Elisabet questioned as she once more looked around at her surroundings.

"From what I learned, Ted Faro destroyed the APOLLO program. Or purged it, I think is the word that he used in his hologram." Aloy clarified as she thought of the images from the control room.

"What hologram?" Elisabet asked, a feeling of dread resting in the pit of her stomach.

"I think you should see it for yourself..." Aloy whispered as she took her Focus off and handed it over to Elisabet.

She fastened the object to her ear and brought up the main menu, going through programs and data logs, before finally pulling up the hologram playback feature. She scrolled through until she came to a projection titled "Emergency Recording", and trigger the playback. Before her, her team of Alpha personnel projected before her, and a moment later, Ted Faro. He went on a tirade of leaving a clean slate to the future of the human race, purging the APOLLO program, and claiming that innocents have to die. She then heard the PA call out atmospheric ventilation, and watched as her team suffocated to death.

"That slimy bastard!" Elisabet cried out, her head clenching at her shirt above her heart, tears welling up in her eyes.

"We share the same thoughts. I had wondered why there were so many destroyed buildings that I learned were called skyscrapers, yet no new ones to take their place. All the tribe knows are cabins and huts, and they are made of wood and clay, not steel." Aloy commented as she took her Focus back from Elisabet.

"Because the program was purged from existence... Or was it?" Elisabet began to think, finger pressed to her chin as she thought.

"Is there another file somewhere?" Aloy asked as she watched Elisabet with piqued interest.

"I may have produced a copy and kept it with me in my office... But we'd have to go back to the Prime facility, and it's been hundreds of years, so no guarantee that it's a mint condition copy." Elisabet explained as she was drawn back out of her thoughts.

"Would we be able to use it, even if it was damaged?" Aloy questioned once again as she looked at Elisabet, wrapping her hand tightly in her own.

"Possibly. The Lyceum was designed to be able to decode thousands of programs, no matter how damaged the file was. If we can find that copy, we may have a chance at using it." Elisabet concluded with a smile.

"Then we'll leave first thing in the morning!" Aloy concluded with a triumphant grin.

"But are you sure that you want that knowledge? Does the tribe want that knowledge?" Elisabet asked as she looked at Aloy.

Aloy stopped the smile from growing any wider as she listened to Elisabet speak. The tribe was very set in their ways, always believing that what happens is the will of All-Mother, and that if she would have wanted them to have this knowledge, she would have blessed them with it when they were born. Aloy shifted back into her sitting position, and once again locked eyes with the flames. She sat that way for several minutes and thought. She thought of all that they were missing out on, simply because of one person, who thought that they were inheriting a disease from the ones that came before them. She thought about Varl, and how he was beginning to question the ways of the All-Mother. She thought of Avad and the Sundom, and how his people were very open to possibility and change, thanks to the Oseram that called Meridian home. But would they accept the knowledge that was stolen from them?

"I don't know..." Aloy finally spoke; her voice a whisper barely above the crackling of wood.

"Perhaps the journey will give you time to think." Elisabet replied as she gently brushed stray strands of hair from Aloy's face. "But now it's time to sleep." She said as she nudged Aloy towards the cabin.

The younger woman laughed as she stood from the ground, turning back around to offer Elisabet her hand, which was accepted. The two women made their way towards the cabin, talking about the trip that they were going to take tomorrow, and how excited Aloy was to learn about the ones that came before. Elisabet made her way towards Rost's bed as Aloy shut the door, and settled into the furs that lined it. She looked back up and watched as Aloy made herself comfortable in her own bed before she silently drifted off to sleep. Elisabet smiled at the younger woman, and whispered a soft goodnight before falling back into the bed herself.


	3. Search for APOLLO

**A.N: Hello once again Zero Dawn players! I've written the next chapter, and thank you for being so patient with it. I have three fics that are currently in progress, and full-time work that keeps me very occupied, so I appreciate your patience and willingness to stick around for the next chapter.**

 **To point out to some of the comments, yes, I am aware that not all knowledge is bad, especially by itself. I am strictly going off of Ted's monologue during the Mountain That Fell quest. Where he treats knowledge as the disease that plagued our species, eventually leading to our own destruction. Yes, I agree that knowledge is not bad on its own. Knowledge in an incredibly powerful thing that leads to advancements unlike Aloy or the Nora have ever seen. There is more to come for their tribe, and Aloy is looking for a way to help the tribe, no matter how they treated her before the Proving.**

 **I agree once again with the APOLLO program description, with the fact that even if it was only a handful of things that survived the passage of time, that it would be world-changing. Yes, that was my intention all along. I had planned for medicine and architecture to be two main focal points of interest, and I will incorporate farming as well, seeing as how they are already hunters and gatherers. I will find other things to bring in as well, but that will come later on in the story.**

 **Thank you again for the reviews, comments, and critiques! They improve the story!**

* * *

"Aloy, slow down child. What are you going on about?" Teersa asked as she beheld the young woman before her.

"There's really not much to say Teersa. I just need you to help me get Varl to go with me, and that means talking him away from Sona." Aloy replied as she walked further into All-Mother Mountain.

"But you've just come back from one task. Don't you want to take some time to heal?" She asked again as she followed behind the young red-head.

"Teersa, I think you of all the Nora know that I can't do that. And you know why I can't do that." Aloy replied with a stern voice as she thought of her original Outcast status. A pain too deep to be quelled away with the Proving, or her new Anointed status.

"Yes child, I do." Teersa replied as the two of them came upon the metal door that lead into the ELEUTHIA facility. At least Aloy knew that about the hulking piece of steel before them.

"Then you know why I need to do this. For me. For the Tribe. For Rost more than anyone. I want us to know where we came from." Aloy threw the answer out as she spun around to face Teersa.

The elder woman stopped dead in her tracks, and just looked at the gaze that Aloy had. There was a new spark in her eyes, much brighter than the spark she had the night of the Proving, and certainly brighter than when she was allowed to become a Seeker for the tribe. Teersa thought she even saw a bit of regret in the young woman's eyes, but pushed that thought away with a gentle sigh.

"Aloy, I will help you however I can." Teersa conceded as she looked into the young woman's eyes.

Aloy smiled in response before turning back around and entering the metal door to ELEUTHIA, and then into the room where GAIA had remained manifested and watching over the facility.

"Aloy, what brings you here? I thought you would be with Elisabet." The AI spoke as she looked towards Aloy.

"How long would it take to get APOLLO running if Elisabet had a copy of it before Faro purged the program?" Aloy immediately asked, barely registering GAIA's original statement.

"That would depend on how damaged the file was. If the corruption is at a bare minimum, I'd say it would take a few hours to a day, but if the data corruption is severe for a file that size, it could take months to years. But Elisabet always kept things organized and safely tucked away, so I have hope that the file has very little corrupted data." GAIA replied as she looked back over the Lyceum.

"You've been waiting for people to be here... I can tell by the look on your face. You wanted us to learn, just like the Alpha's did." Aloy spoke as she stood next to GAIA overlooking the empty facility.

"It was the dream of the team to see future generations continue the way they had, without the unnecessary use of military robotics. They desperately wanted APOLLO to succeed in it's primary function, which was to teach and instill countless centuries of human knowledge and culture. It is unfortunate that it never happened the way it was intended to." GAIA spoke, almost brokenly, as she looked between the Lyceum and Aloy.

"Is it too late?" Aloy finally broke the silence as she, too, looked out into the empty space the the Lyceum created.

"I suppose not, but it is now a matter of free will. Do the members of your tribe want to be taught the knowledge of those who came before? This is not to say that I am attacking knowledge as a whole. I would be a hypocrite to do so. There is nothing wrong with the knowledge you seek to acquire, but how can you prevent others from falling to the same path as Faro and those who helped him program the Swarm?" GAIA asked as she turned to look down at Aloy.

Aloy stood silent for a few minutes, contemplating the words that the AI spoke. Of course she knew that not all knowledge was bad; Rost taught her all that she knew, and Sylens helped her understand all that she had recently acquired about the past, including many of the features on her Focus device. She knew that knowledge hadn't pushed Ted Faro to encrypt the Corruptors or Deathbringers; he turned out, as Elisabet had stated, to be a greedy man who only wanted what she called money. Aloy assumed she was talking about the shards that traders took in exchange for her current bows and some outfits.

"I... I don't really know..." Aloy finally said as the silence began to get too heavy.

"Aloy, I know that you want to know about those from the past, and how to avoid the same fate, no matter the cost, but this is a decision that only you can make for yourself. I hope that your tribe can come to the same conclusion with time, but they seem very set in their ways at this point, and they will also have to make this decision on their own. If you believe in them, I'm sure they will come through, but hoping and wishing alone will not change their minds." GAIA spoke as she looked down at the young woman before her.

She felt a deep sense of turmoil as she looked at Aloy. Her red locks shielded her eyes from the side as she hung her head, either in deep thought or confusion, GAIA wasn't sure, but she looked so broken. So unsure of this journey that she wanted to embark upon. GAIA's hologram shrunk in size so that she was now the same height at Aloy. Aloy turned her head as GAIA came to her level, and finally looked over to the AI.

"If I may, I am not saying that you should abandon this quest of yours. I can tell how much you want to learn of the past, and how curious you are as an individual. I am actually encouraging you to take this journey to help you grown both physically and intellectually. I have the utmost faith in your quest Aloy. The others will come around at their own time." GAIA reassured Aloy as she locked eyes with the young woman.

"Thanks GAIA. I think I should be getting going then." Aloy said as she moved towards the open door and the mountain beyond.

"If I may again, Aloy, Elisabet was very disorganized at the Prime facility. I recommend looking around her desk first, and if nothing turns up there, then the containers around her desk would be your next best option." GAIA said as she watched Aloy.

Aloy looked over her shoulder and flashed a huge smile at GAIA before turning around the corner and disappearing out into the heart of the mountain. GAIA couldn't help the smile that perked at the corner of her mouth as she watched the young woman leave. She turned back towards the Lyceum and pictured the room filled with people, as it should have been.

"Elisabet... She reminds me of you. Your drive, your will, your desire to finish what you start. I believe she can get her tribe to learn from the APOLLO program." GAIA said before she closed her eyes and disappeared in a flash of light.

Aloy and Elisabet made their way across the vast desert north of Meridian, ever mindful of the machines that were, though docile, still deadly. They pushed their Striders onwards, covering the vast distance in mere hours, for which both women were grateful. When they reached the small field before the long climb up to the facility, Aloy dismounted her Strider and came to stand next to Elisabet.

"I don't suppose you're up for a climb?" Aloy asked as she looked up at Elisabet.

"Not really, no." Elisabet answered as she looked at the looming cliff face before them.

"Didn't think so. Anyways, I'll head up there and tell you what I see. If you remember how your office was set up, it'd be really helpful." Aloy commented as she prepared herself for another climb.

"I'll watch through the Focus. Don't worry, I won't be like this Sylens that you've mentioned, I'll be there the whole time to watch and help you look." Elisabet commented as she touched the Focus on the side of her head.

Aloy watched silently as Elisabet waved her arms about before her, skimming though Focus options before finally coming to the one that she was looking for. With a few finger pushes against the air, the Focus on her ear went from shining a light blue, to being a striking blue against her face, illuminating her features. Aloy's mouth dropped slightly in awe as her own Focus began to glow brighter in her peripheral.

"You are definitely going to show me how to do that." She remarked as she turned to face the cliff.

"Come back down in one piece first." Elisabet shot back as she watched Aloy begin her ascent up the cliff the the Prime facility.

Varl could hardly believe his ears as he stood before the Matriarchs. Aloy had requested him by name for another quest, and had left word for Sona to relieve him for this duty, but she had already gone. Of course he knew that he needed to get to wherever she was, whatever way he could. As Teersa told him of Aloy's plan and quest, she also gave him permission to leave the Sacred Lands to go to her side, no matter where she would be. He left the mountain immediately. Teersa mentioned her being north of Meridian, and Varl knew then and there where Aloy had gone.

Since the battle against HADES, many of the grazing machines had turned docile on their own, and no longer needed to be overridden in order to be ridden. When he walked out of Mother's Watch, he approached the first Strider he saw. It gazed at him for a moment before bowing its head slightly and turning its back to him. He climbed upon its back and pushed it off towards Meridian, and the one facility that lay beyond.

The familiar mountain was the first thing that he saw, followed by the Bitter Climb, which lived up quite nicely to its name. Varl dismounted the Strider he rode in and looked up at the barren cliff face before him. He sighed before he tentatively took hold of the first grip, and just as he was about to begin his climb, a sound stopped him. And not just any sound. A voice.

"Varl? Is that you?" Distinctly feminine, Varl's head snapped towards the sound.

"Elisabet? What are you doing here? And on a Strider no less." Varl asked as he let go of the grip and made his way over to the elder red-head.

"Aloy is already up there. She's making her way towards my office right now." Elisabet replied with a smile as she looked at the young man before her.

"What is she even looking for? Teersa told me that Aloy was coming back out this way, and I knew where she was going even before Teersa mentioned it. But what is she looking for?" Varl asked as he turned his gaze towards the blown-out center of the mountain where GAIA Prime once was.

"My copy of the APOLLO program. Honestly, I don't know how much of it would have survived GAIA overcharging the reactors, causing the explosion, but you never know. Some of our technology was so resistant, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole program had survived." Elisabet remarked as she, too, gazed at the mountain before them.

"I should go up there with her." Varl said as he, once again, took hold of a grip.

"Wait! She's coming though on the Focus." Elisabet stopped him from beginning the ascent.

"The Focus? You can use those to talk over distances?" Varl questioned with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Aloy? What have you found?" Elisabet questioned as she held her hand to the metal piece attached to her ear. "A file? Does it look like a circle?... It does?... Yes, that's the one then. Is there anything written on it?... There's a symbol that looks like the ones on the door at the Zero Dawn facility? Yes, that's the one. Come on back down." Elisabet spoke as a smile began to creep onto her face.

Varl was more than a little confused, but instead of question anything further, seeing as how Elisabet would be the more knowledgeable one about the past, he just stood near her and the grazing Striders, and they conversed about everything that lead up to this point.

"How did she ever destroy HADES?" Elisabet asked as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"It wasn't easy. The Eclipse had this thing that we call a Deathbringer with them. Aloy said it was called a Khopesh, or something like that, and that it was this super heavy war machine that this Faro guy had his people create. There were a lot of them, but the Oseram have these cannons that you can use as you move, and many of the Deathbringers were brought down outside the gates of Meridian." Varl began.

"That sounds like it was horrible. To have to fight Ted's war machines… I couldn't possibly imagine what you were up against. Fighting turret guns with bows and arrows sounds impossible." Elisabet commented as she took in Varl's story of the battle.

"It really was a show. The machines and Eclipse managed to punch through the gates of Meridian, and made their way up to this Spire. Aloy said that it was a transmitter? I don't really remember, but the Eclipse and HADES used it to power up the machines that were still buried underground. So, these guys make their way up to the Spire and cast the signal, there's a group of us that are already by the Spire trying to fight off this Deathbringer so we can get to HADES, but we aren't having any luck. Aloy shows up, battered and bloody, and starts lobbing fire arrows at this thing, finally setting off its heat sensor. Aloy tells us where to fire and sure enough, with some well-placed shots, this thing starts to shake and rumble. This goes on for a bit, but we finally take it down." Varl is downright excited about them having taken down a Deathrbinger, and Elisabet can't help but share in his joy.

"What happened next? Surely this Khopesh model was a personal bodyguard to the HADES program." Elisabet egged on, now fully immersed in the story of the final battle.

"Right, this is where it's a little foggy, but only because Aloy didn't share a whole lot about what happened to her. But she goes up to this giant metal orb and takes this spear that I've never seen before off her back. It's not made like a Nora spear. It's metal and there's this piece attached to it that glows this strange blue color. Aloy had called it a master override, if that means anything to you."

"Yes… I'm more than familiar with it. I designed it. I created it solely for the purpose of shutting GAIA down if she were to run rampant and do the exact opposite of her intended function. Ted insisted that I have one created for her, and yet, I felt absolutely guilty about doing it. I had just created GAIA, and had just started downloading all of her necessary programming into her database, when Ted came over the holo demanding that she have a kill switch. GAIA, not unforeseen, agreed with Ted. I began work on it immediately, and it was done within a few short days, but I never really intended to use it. It was able to destroy the HADES function, so a part of me is glad that I had it made." Elisabet spoke as she gazed up to the clouds passing above them.

"Aloy ran up to the metal orb that HADES was holed up in and began to stab her spear into it, pounding and pounding until she finally broke through the metal that protected the… Well, I guess to you it would be called software? Is that right?"

"Yes. HADES, though a subordinate function, is a software program we created specifically to be used with the GAIA terraforming program. All it was supposed to do was reset the program if GAIA made a mistake when she began to reconstitute the planet. I'll be able to answer any questions that you have about anything that I'm saying." Elisabet explained as she turned her gaze back to Varl, who looked completely lost by her explanation. She chuckled when he asked her to explain everything when she could.

"Anyways, Aloy hammered into this thing and was shocked by this surge of electricity. Her arm was red and blistered for weeks. It's all scarred over now, but it was bad not too long ago. She wouldn't say what happened in that moment that she was shocked, but when she fell back, we were all at her side. She sighed and said that it was done, and that HADES was no longer a threat." Varl spoke, now fully immersed in his story again.

Elisabet smiled, thinking about the conversation she had had with GAIA so long ago…

 _They had been working tirelessly to develop the Zero Dawn program, and Elisabet finally gave in to the nagging for her to take a break. She sat at her desk with her head in her hands, pondering not only the eventual death of the planet, but also their own. She felt so incomplete, being hundreds of miles away from home, while her family comforted each other as they prepared for the eventual mass extinction of the planet. Tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes, and Elisabet wiped at the furiously._

' _Come on Lis… This is no time for tears…' She reprimanded herself as she sat up straight and began to leaf through some of the programs on her computer._

 _She soon lost her train of thought, and having nothing else to do, leaned back in her chair, pondering once again. Not wanting to get too wound up in bad thoughts again, she turned to the adjacent shelf on her desk and pressed the small button beneath the holocastor. Instantly, GAIA popped back into life, rebooting from the night before. When GAIA was fully operational, Elisabet spoke to her._

" _Okay GAIA, uhh, sorry about that. Where was I?"_

" _You were telling a story."_

" _Right. Yeah, so um… Like I was saying, it was a children's electronics kit, but I'd hacked the wiring to an auto battery and solar PV, so the grass caught fire. And so did a tall pine that'd stood there… I don't know, maybe a hundred years."_

"Query: you were how old?"

"Six. My mother was home, thank god, so she called the fire department, and after, she took me out to the lawn and showed me the dead baby birds. Because there were nests in the pine tree."

" _Query: what did you feel?"_

" _I'm not sure… I remember yelling that I didn't care. And that's when my mother took my face in her hands and… Spoke."_

"Query: what did she say?"

" _She said I had to care. She said 'Elisabet, being smart will count for nothing if you don't make the world better. You have to use your smarts to count for something, to serve life, not death'."_

" _You often tell stories of your mother, but you are childless."_

" _I never had time. I guess it was for the best."_

" _If you had had a child Elisabet, what would you have wished for him or her?"_

" _I guess… I would've wanted her to be… Curious. And willful- unstoppable, even… But with enough compassion to… heal the world. Just a little bit."_

 _At this point Elisabet had become silent, lost in thought as she pondered GAIA's question and her own response. Involuntarily, her hand found its way to her abdomen. A dream that she had had before, now completely destroyed by the impending mass extinction that threatened the planet. She clenched the fabric of her shirt tightly in her hand before turning back to her computer and drowning herself in her work. As much as saving the planet meant to her and the team, she didn't trust Ted anymore then she could throw him. She began making copies of everything. The Alpha registry, the APOLLO program, maps of the locations of all ELEUTHIA facilities in the world and their embryonic DNA samples, and any and all relevant data that could come into play in the future. She would bring most of these to the Prime facility, but she would leave the Alpha registry behind, having forgotten it in the rush to move GAIA from the Zero Dawn facility to the Prime facility._

"Elisabet? Sacred Lands to Elisabet…" Varl prodded as he waved his hand in front of her face, bringing her out of her daze.

"What? What happened?" She asked as she finally looked at him.

"Aloy's back." He said, nodding his head towards Aloy, who now stood off to her right.

"Thought we'd lost you there for a moment." Aloy commented as she took the small object from her pack. "This was the thing we were looking for, right?" She asked as she handed the small disc over to Elisabet.

"Yes. This is the copy of the APOLLO program that I had made. I never did trust Ted, especially since the robots were his fault in the first place. When we were nearly finished with everything, I had made copies of almost everything, because knowing Ted, he would do something completely stupid that would cost us everything that we had worked for." Elisabet commented as she placed the disc in her pocket.

"What is that object called?" Varl asked as he mounted his nearby Strider.

"The disc? Well, some call them drivers, others call them CDs, but it's just a disc." Elisabet stated as she nudged her Strider to follow Aloy's, while Varl picked up the rear.

"What is the APOLLO program?" Varl asked as he caught up to ride next to Elisabet.

"Basically, it's a mass collection of the cultures of people from around the world, dating from the earliest recordings of man, up until our extinction back in twenty sixty-six, when the Plague tore the biosphere to shreds. I'd also had it updated with a vast library of architecture before I made the copy, and before Ted purged the system of all traces of the program."

"So, it's like a teacher?"

"Yes, Varl! It's exactly like a teacher." Elisabet cheered as Varl found a way to match the program with its intended function.

"So, it would be like my father teaching me how to hunt."

"In a way, yes."

"Sounds like something I'd be interested in."

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll have to see how dedicated you are to learn something completely different from what you've been taught so far in your life."

"What do you mean?" Varl questioned, now perplexed by Elisabet's statement.

"Well, there are many different forms of religion to take into consideration. There is also the belief that there is no god, or in the case of your tribe, and All-Mother. There are ways to create from nothing, and way to mine for minerals that you don't even know exist, including metals. The APOLLO program was designed to teach you so many things, and about so many different cultures, and in an instant, all of it was taken from you. Hopefully I can set this right." Elisabet explained as they continued on.

Varl was quiet for a while, and Aloy was as well. Both of them were pondering what would happen if the tribe was introduced to this new information. Would it be taken well? Would there be opposition? What would happen to the way the tribe has been? Would that change as well? There were too many questions and not enough answers. The two of the mentally agreed that what would happen would happen. By design of All-Mother or not, it would be done.

They rode in silence back to the Sacred Lands, dropping Elisabet off back at the Cabin before making their way further South to Mother's Heart. Aloy and Varl made their way into All-Mother mountain, and Aloy led him further, right into the ELEUTHIA facility. Varl's eyes widened in shock and wonder as he gazed around the facility, having never been inside another besides Prime.

"Come on Varl, this way!" Aloy exclaimed as she ran into the open door to their right.

The inside of the room was nothing too fancy, but Varl was caught off guard at the figure standing in the middle of the room beside Aloy, gesturing to various spots on the switches next to them. As he got closer, he was all too aware that Aloy was conversing with GAIA, and so he busied himself with walking around the room and finally gazing out to the open pit before the window.

"That's what I was telling you about Varl. That's the Lyceum. It's where we were supposed to learn everything about the Old Ones." Aloy explained as she stood next to her friend.

"It's…. Huge. And its deep." Varl commented as he looked down into the rings of spaces.

"This is what Elisabet was talking about. This is what was stolen from us. Now we can get it back." Aloy was beaming with pride.

"I… I don't know, Aloy…" Varl was hesitant to commit to such a drastic change.

"What is it?" Aloy asked, genuinely confused and concerned.

"Honestly? Before I met you, I never had any doubts about All-Mother, or the ways of the tribe, or even the day-to-day things that we go through. Now that I've grown so close to you, I'm questioning everything that I've ever known, and it's terrifying, to be honest. I don't know what to think anymore, and I'm afraid that this APOLLO program will just make that worse."

"But what if APOLLO makes it better? What if it helps you to understand your feelings, and to get over your confusion?"

"That may work for you, Aloy. But I'm not so sure I'm ready for this yet… Maybe another time." Varl commented before turning on his heel and making his way from the room.

Aloy watched as he walked out of the room, and hung her head in defeat. Of all people, she thought Varl would be with her in this, especially after everything that they had been through in the past few weeks. She turned back to the control panel, plugged the disc into the correct slot, and followed along as Elisabet walked her through downloading the program to the mainframe of the computers. Withing a few moments, the voice came over the PA system, letting Aloy and GAIA know that APOLLLO was up and running with the computers again, as it should have all those years ago. Aloy, not able to stand around anymore, ran downstairs into the Lyceum and took a seat in the first open spot she could. With a touch on her Focus, Samina popped up before her, introducing the Lyceum, before going right to the first lesson of human history. Aloy could feel herself being transported back in time, suddenly all too familiar with what Sylens was going on about while she had been trying to find out where she had come from.

She stayed planted where she was for several hours, not sparing a single moment to move around from the Lyceum. When she did leave for the night, she avoided all questions and acknowledgements, and instead made her way back to the cabin as quickly as she could. As soon as she walked in the door, she bombarded Elisabet with questions.

Elisabet answered all of Aloy's questions to the best of her ability, and when the younger girl wore herself out, she slowly led her to her own bed and adjusted her down into the furs that lined it, before making her way over to the bed she now called hers and following suit. Aloy had already gotten the first taste of knowledge. Elisabet was prepared for whatever came next.


	4. Speaking from the Heart

**A.N: Hello readers! First and foremost, I apologize for my lack of updates. I've hit a spell of writer's block, and have basically been forcing myself to write, and while I've been able to work though the worst of it, do not be surprised if parts of the story feel rushed or out of place. It is not intentional at all.  
Second, thank you, as always, for being so patient with me as I try to write these chapters. This one is a tad bit shorter than the previous three chapters, and hopefully it doesn't disappoint too badly.  
Anyways, since I have nothing more to say, please enjoy!**

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Aloy awoke before sunrise, unable to sleep through the nightmare that had been plaguing her throughout the night. She shivered before she pulled her leather tighter around her body and made her way out of the front door of the cabin. She didn't even glance in Elizabet's direction, instead wanting to be alone for the few bitter moments before sunrise. She walked through the gate, made her way to Rost's grave, and settled down amongst the snow. Tears began to creep up to the corners of her eyes, but she wiped them away before she cleared her throat.

"It's… It's been a while, huh." She began as she shifted to a more comfortable position. "There's a lot to tell you, but most of it will have to wait for another time. What's most important is that I found my mother… Well, the woman that I was cloned from. It's… A difficult concept to explain, the whole cloning thing, but that is also a story for another time."

She stopped speaking for a moment, and turned her head to watch the sun begin to peek out from behind All-Mother Mountain. She felt the warmth begin to dance on the morning breeze, and she sighed in content. She turned her head back towards the grave.

"I've found the history of our people. Before they were the Nora and the Carja. Before the machines walked the plains. Before the land swallowed up Devil's Thirst. I've begun to learn more about the Old Ones but…" She paused, chewing on her lip for a moment before she continued. "But nightmares have begun to surface with this new knowledge. I don't know what to make of it, and I don't want to stop learning about the Old Ones, but I don't want to risk anything. I don't want to put the tribe in more danger than it is already in, considering that the Nora are already so content in their ways that even the slightest change could cause even more isolation, or I could be cast out further than I was before. And I can't risk that. I can't abandon you or your memory. You are the only reason that I've stayed this close to the rest of the tribe."

Tears were starting to fall down her cheeks, and she allowed them to spill for several minutes. The silence that surrounded her was only broken by her shuddering breath and the small sobs that echoed in her throat.

"I keep thinking that Meridian is safer, that Avad and the Carja are my best bet to be safe, and that the Embrace is the last place that I should be… But in my heart, I can't forget all that you have taught me about the tribe, and all that I have learned on my own… Rost… What am I supposed to do? What _can_ I do?" She asked as she traced her fingers over the carved stone before her.

The wind ruffled through her hair, and gently blew across her cheeks. All she could think of in that moment was Rost standing on the opposite pillar when she was a child, watching over her as she trained to compete in the Proving. And all at once, she then saw Vala, that night in the sleeping hut, telling her that she should be well rested, and encouraging her, the outcast, to do her best in the Proving. She saw the look on Bast's face when Vala came to her side, defending her against his belittlement towards her. Her heart clenched in her chest as she saw Rost once again, on the cliff overlooking Mother's Heart, as the Blaze canisters exploded behind him. Her eyes snapped open, and new tears threatened to spill over her eyelids, but she steadied her breathing as she gazed back at the stone once again.

"You know, that stone isn't going to have the answers that you're looking for." Aloy snapped her head towards the voice, and locked eyes with Elisabet. She steadied herself back onto the ground before the grave.

"He was the only family I had ever known. The only person in this entire tribe to show me any kindness before I competed in the Proving. The only person who knew me as I am, and not as the Anointed that the Matriarchs paint me as. I will always come to him first, even if he is no longer here." Aloy mumbled as she began to trace outlines in the snow before her.

Elisabet sighed as she looked over the young woman whom she had become closer to. Just like her, Aloy had stubbornness, and she didn't abandon anything, even if it meant putting her own emotions and thoughts aside. When the young woman set her mind to something, she did it. Finding the archived APOLLO program information was, coincidentally, one of those times. She moved closer to the younger woman and knelt at her side, as close as body language would allow. To her surprise, Aloy did not move away. Instead, she simply huddled closer in on herself.

"Aloy… I'm not the greatest at comforting others, but if ever you need someone to listen to you… I will be here." Elisabet stated, glancing between Aloy and Rost's grave.

The moment was brought to an end when voices came calling over the hill, and Aloy jumped to her feet, pulling Elisabet up with her.

"Braves, and they're coming this way. Get to the cabin and keep hidden. I'll come for you when it's safe. Something isn't right with their chants." Aloy urged Elisabet towards the cabin, and hopefully safety, as she stood looking off to the cliff edge.

When she heard the cabin door close, she released the breath that she had been holding, and focused on the figure that was now appearing from the cliff. Instead of the group she had anticipated, she was met by Varl alone, and while she was glad to see him, the smile he usually wore was now absent from his face.

"Aloy… The Matriarchs have requested you. You are to meet them in All-Mother Mountain, and are to be prepared to travel." Varl spoke, his eyes darting around the small enclave that Rost had made into a home for himself and Aloy.

"What is this in regards to?" Aloy questioned, trying to bring Varl's attention back to her.

"The Matriarchs have all of the details." Varl said before making his descent back towards the lower valley.

Aloy stood for a few minutes, puzzled by Varl's new attitude. Her mind began to race with questions. Did he tell the Matriarchs about their trip to GAIA Prime? Did he tell them about Elisabet? Did he tell them about the APOLLO program archive that she had brought back with her? Her curiosity turned to animosity as she stalked back up to the cabin. She made her way inside and went straight for her bed, gathering up her Shield Weaver leathers, her bow, and a handful of newly made arrows before turning back towards the door. She stopped when Elisabet's hand came down firmly on her shoulder.

"Aloy, what's gotten into you so suddenly?" She asked, her voice creeping with concern for the younger girl.

"Varl… The Matriarchs are summoning me for whatever reason, and I can't help but think that he's told them something, either about APOLLO or you, but the only way to find out is to meet with them in person. I've brought back a few of the Focus devices from the Lyceum, and I would like you to wear one so that I can communicate with you over distances, and so that you can keep an ear and eye out for me. I will most likely be bringing you to Meridian. It'll be safer there for you, and no one from the tribe would ever think to go there." Aloy spoke as she made her way towards the door.

"What do you think they have to say?" Elisabet questioned, her brow knitting together in confusion.

"Honestly, I don't know. There are tales of new machines making their way towards the Embrace from the Forbidden West, as the Carja are keen to call it, and from the Banuk settlement of Ban-Ur. After bringing down HADES, I'm actually surprised that there are still rogue machines that are hostile, especially since I've overrun all of the HEPHESTUS cauldrons within this part of the Embrace and the Sundom. If it's reconnaissance that they want, then they'll get it."

"How do we get to Meridian?"

"For now, stay here. I'll be back to get you when the Matriarchs have said all they can, then we'll take a couple of Striders out. They are the easiest to override here, and the most abundant. There is a problem with Stormbirds in the Sundom though… That could pose as a problem, especially on the first stretch of the trail."

"I'm not exactly an aspiring warrior. Sure, I've picked up a few things from you in our time together, but I am in no way close to being able to fight as you can." Elisabet stated, looking between Aloy and the door over her shoulder. A mere moment later, her eyes sparked with an idea. "You could teach me more!"

"W-what? I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but I'm not exactly a teacher, nor do I have that much patience in anyone, including myself. As much as it would benefit this trek, I don't know what our timeframe is looking like if the Matriarchs are worried about something that could endanger the Embrace." Aloy replied with a small frown.

"If anything, you're my best chance at learning how to defend myself against the rogue HEPHESTUS machines that are still lingering around. And seeing as how you've dealt with these new machines for the last few years, you're practically the expert in this scenario."

"Elisabet… I'll see what I can teach you. It probably won't be as great as Rost trained me, but it will be something to help you defend yourself. But first, I'll need to being going to Mother's Watch. I'll be back soon."

And with that, Aloy made her way out of the cabin and down towards the path that would lead her to Mother's Watch. She passed by a few small machine sites, a few Watchers here, a pair of Scrappers there, and was mostly lost in her thoughts the entire way to Mother's Watch. Before long, she was greeted by the newly reinforced gates that surrounded the small village. She made her way inside and up the path that lead to All-Mother Mountain, passed through the small cave entrance, and made her way down towards the steel door that blocked the path to the Lyceum. There stood Tersa, Jezza and Lansra, talking amongst themselves in hurried, hushed whispers. Aloy strode towards them, finally catching Tersa's eye with deliberate heavy footfalls.

"Aloy, welcome." Tersa began, but was cut off almost immediately.

"Tersa, we both know this isn't a generous welcome. What do you request of me so that I can leave and begin whatever task you have asked me for."

"Hmph. Stubborn girl." Lansra muttered under her breath, turning from the group and shaking her head as she walked away.

"Takes one to know one Lansra." Aloy replied, though louder.

"Aloy, please, this is urgent." Tersa pulled the younger girl back to the task at hand.

"So it seems, otherwise you would have noticed when I walked in. What is the issue?"

Tersa sighed in defeat. If there was one thing she knew about Aloy, it was her stubborn and headstrong attitude. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before looking back at Aloy, taking another deep breath to steady herself.

"Aloy, as you know, most of the machines in the Embrace have turned almost tame since you took your last journey as a Seeker. But as we've been informed by other Braves, there are threats of new machines coming from the wilds of the Banuk lands. Strange, horrible machines that look nothing like those in the Embrace. We have sought you out to travel to Ban-Ur, and consort with the Banuk Shamans about these new machines. Any information that you bring back to us will be passed on to the Braves so that they may better defend the Embrace."

"I see. Very well, I'll be off then."

"Aloy, wait. There is more."

"Oh? What else could there be to scouting?"

Tersa moved to stand beside Aloy, and without a word, she took her arm and lead her to another part of the cavern, away from Jezza and Lansra. When she was sure they were out of earshot, she began to speak.

"Aloy, Varl has told me that the two of you came upon something unbelievable when you were last together. And that this discovery could help us to better understand the machines. Is this true?"

"Honestly Tersa, the Nora are so afraid of change, that I've withheld a lot of information from my travels, strictly because I didn't need another reason for the tribe to cast me further out. And if it's all the same to you, I'm going to keep it that way." Aloy ground out as she gently pulled her arm from the elder woman's hold.

"Very well. It is your decision after all. But perhaps you would care to share some of that information another time?"

"Maybe, but not now. Not when there are so many wounds left to be healed."

"Of course, but we've held you up here long enough. Please head for Ban-Ur as soon as you are able. The Shamans will be able to assist you further." Tersa spoke, nudging Aloy over towards the path the lead out of the mountain.

Aloy barely regarded the gesture as she made her way out of the mountain, walked down the slope to the village, and then began her trek back to the cabin. Ban-Ur was several days of walking away, and she didn't quite know if a Strider would be able to function in the extreme temperature difference between the Embrace and the frozen wilds. Before long, she had made her way up the cliffside that lead to the cabin, and once she was in sight, she could clearly make out Elisabet standing near the fire, watching for her.

Elisabet sighed in relief upon seeing Aloy, and noting that the scowl from earlier had now disappeared, she assumed that the meeting with her tribal leaders had gone well. Or at least as well as can be expected. She began to walk towards the younger red head, and once they were near enough, Aloy felt the pull of longing in her heart. All that time searching for her mother, and she had finally found the closest semblance that she would ever be able to find. They shared the same DNA, looked almost identical, and Aloy had already noticed some very similar personality traits. Without even thinking about it, she lunged forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around Elisabet's waist. Shocked at first, Elisabet slowly returned the gesture until they were both holding onto one another as if there was no one else left in the world.

"What brought this on?" Elisabet askes as she pulls herself back just enough to be able to brush some strands of hair from Aloy's face.

"I… I don't know… All that time I spent looking for a mother I didn't know didn't exist, then finding you in stasis… And finding out through the Focus device that you existed at one point in time pushed me onwards to find you. Nothing was going to stop me from tracking you down and asking you every possible question that I could, but most importantly why you abandoned me. And then finding out that I was not your daughter, but a clone that GAIA had created solely for the purpose of destroying the HADES function… And then having you here in the flesh, it's just been so much to take in.." Aloy mumbled as she buried her face back into Elisabet's shoulder.

"Oh Aloy… I had no idea that all of that had led to this…" Elisabet sighed as she rubbed small circles on Aloy's back.

"And now we'll have to part once more, strictly for your safety. I have a friend that owes me a favor anyways."

"And would this friend of yours be in Meridian?"

"Yes. His name is Avad, and he's in my debt for the fact that I stopped HADES from destroying Meridian in the onslaught that would have brought the dormant machines back to life."

"How long?"

"Hmm… Could be a few weeks to a few months, possibly even a year. Who knows. It will be based upon how the Shamans decide to talk to me, being as I am an outsider to their tribe, but I've made a few friends that have sent word of me back, so I should be back sooner rather than later." Aloy replied as she released the embrace.

"Then when you come back, you're going to teach me a few of your bow tricks. I'll probably need them if we're going to be living in the wilderness, and the last time I was even remotely close to camping was when I was ten. I need a bit of a refresher." Elisabet joked as she recalled that night with her parents, sleeping under the stars with nothing but the feeling of nature around them.

"Heh, done and done."

"And one more thing, Aloy."

"Yeah?"

"Be safe." Elisabet whispered as she looked into Aloy's eyes.

"I will, don't worry." Aloy replied with a grin.

With that, Aloy excused herself from the cabin and made her way down to the plains of the Embrace. The journey would be long, she knew, but she held onto the tiny bit of hope that it would be a rather short time away from the cabin. Away from Rost. Away from Elisabet. She wanted to get to know the elder woman, and while she did find that being away from the tribe was refreshing, she would much rather settle in for a while without being called away to be a tribal dignitary. She sighed as the thoughts flew through her mind, and before long, she had acquired the two Striders that she was looking for, and had made her way back to the cabin to gather Elisabet for the ride to Meridian.


	5. To Meridian

**A.N: I finally found a break in between work and class to write at least one story update! Sorry if it's so short, but I let it end where it did because I'm still trying to debate where I'm trying to take this story. A part of me wants to make Avad and Elisabet a couple, and another part of me wants an Aloy and Varl relationship, but I'm uncertain as of right now.  
Anyways, here is chapter 5. I hope you guys enjoy!**

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Meridian was always a sight to behold to Aloy, and was even more so to Elisabet. The mass of Oseram workers that came to Meridian after the attack, had rebuilt the great elevators that went from the lower village, which had also been rebuilt, and from the Maizelands back up to the main city. Aloy remembered the battle here better than anyone, and the loss of life that followed the onslaught of the Eclipse. She remembered killing Helis, and the regret that hung over her like a heavy cloud once the battle had ended. She pulled her Strider to a stop at the bridge leading to the village, hopped off, and began to make her way through the village with Elisabet at her side. Their trip together had been mostly uneventful. Since Aloy and Sylens had been able to mostly rebuild GAIA on their own, with the help of the remaining sub functions that had been reigned back in from the virus, the machines had returned to their docile selves, and serving the functions that they had been created for.

Aloy, though, had asked Elisabet so many questions about GAIA and the old world on their trip, and Elisabet answered every question with little to no hesitation. Aloy was what she had wanted in a child; curious, willful, and compassionate. Of course, she would do whatever she could to help her in whatever ways possible. It was, she determined, her maternal duty to the young woman.

"Aloy, what is Avad like?" Elisabet finally asked the question that had been plaguing her mind since they'd left the Embrace.

"He's certainly royalty, but he's also very much human. He doesn't really see himself as a 'King' per say, more like a collective voice for the people. He's a kind and caring man, not much older than I am, but he can also be stern when he needs to be. He has a younger half-brother named Itamen who plays down in the royal gardens, and he cherishes him. There were rumors going around that he was in a committed relationship with an Oseram woman named Ersa, who was Erend's older sister, but for the sake of peace between the wary tribes, he declined those rumors and shot them down whenever they were brought up. I think you would like him as a person." Aloy explained, leaving out the part where Avad had mistakenly thought of her as Ersa, hoping to perhaps fill the void that had been left by her passing.

"He sounds rather intriguing. A king who refuses to call himself a king unless in serious situations. Although, I'm surprised that a monarchy would still exist today. Or that one was founded at all." Elisabet mused, brushing her hair back from her face.

"A monarchy? What's that?" Aloy questioned, the word foreign to her.

"Ah, a monarchy is a type of government that is ruled by a group, generally a family, in which a single individual, called the monarch, sits at its head. In other words, Avad is from a family that has ruled for quite some time, and now serves at the leader of Meridian in the place of his father or mother. We had a few monarchy's left in the world when the Faro Plague happened, but they all died out with the rest of civilization." Elisabet spoke the last part softly, mostly to herself, but Aloy could hear the very distinct sadness in Elisabet's voice.

"Do… Do you miss it?" Aloy questioned, turning her head just slightly to watch Elisabet from the corner of her eye.

"I do… My family, the friends that I made and maintained, the work that I did to help better robotics, and ultimately humanity… It was all that I had ever known. And when you woke me from cryo-sleep, and seeing that all of what I had known was gone forever… It stirs up a bit of anguish." Elisabet spoke, almost too softly to hear, but Aloy didn't miss a word.

Elisabet just smiled and shook her head, moving just slightly closer to Aloy as the two of them continued to walk through the streets that lead to the great elevators of Meridian. Aloy, for her part, remained relatively silent as she thought over Elisabet's words. She could tell that Elisabet was trying her hardest to be a strong woman, and to not let her thoughts affect her so much, but Aloy could tell that it was all a mask that she was trying to wear. She felt for the elder woman; to wake up from a sleep that spanned hundreds of years, and to find that all you had known had deteriorated in that span of time, instead of flourishing, left an awful feeling in Aloy's heart.

"Aloy?" Elisabet spoke and broke her from her thoughts.

"What is it?" Aloy asked as she tilted her head towards Elisabet.

"What about you? Do you think you would have liked living in my time?" Elisabet asked with a chuckle, "You're thinking over my words quite deeply."

Aloy was thrown back into her thoughts, and immediately concluded that, if it weren't for the fact that she had been born in this time, surrounded by the culture of the tribe that she had loathed for the better part of her life, she didn't think she could have lived in Elisabet's time. There was just too much about that time that she was uncertain about, and so many different rules that she would have had to live by, that she just simply shook her head in response.

"No… I don't think I could have lived in your time. It's too foreign to me." Aloy finally replied, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"I don't blame you. At the end, it was foreign to me too." Elisabet replied sadly, running a hand though her hair.

"I saw your lab at Zero Dawn. Some of your old data files were still there, intact even. I listened to them. To how you spoke with GAIA before she was going to be transferred to Prime… How frightened you sounded. How angry, and distressed, and worried you were…" Aloy spoke, eyes locked on to Elisabet as they took the elevator up to the main city level.

"I almost had hoped that anything I had left behind would have been destroyed, or at least wasted away without an energy source. I'm sorry you had to see how rattled I was. That was unlike me to be so distressed about everything that had been going on. I mean, we had already passed the level of panic that would garner such feeling." Elisabet chuckled at that last sentence, thinking herself foolish for the emotions that she had displayed so openly to be recorded by her data files.

"Don't be sorry about that. It was purely emotion, and it was expressed in a way that you may not have agreed with, but it doesn't mean that you are any less yourself because of an emotional outbreak." Aloy tried to comfort, though she felt like her words were getting jumbled around in her display of emotions. Rost had never been an openly emotional person, so expression of emotion was relatively new to her. The fact that the tribe had been aggressive towards her to begin with didn't help that fact.

"Thank you, Aloy, but I hope that those data files don't make you think any less of me."

"With the people I was brought up around, that isn't even possible."

The two of them stepped off the elevator and made their way towards the Palace of the Sun. Elisabet was awestruck by the craftsmanship of the city, and the vast array of what she learned was Carja and Oseram artistry, and slowly began to fall back behind Aloy as they walked. Aloy had noticed this immediately, and turned to look over her shoulder as Elisabet looked around like a child that was seeing an open field for the first time. She smiled as she watched the elder woman, and thought of how different their worlds were. She'd been to Maker's End, the Zero Dawn facility, and GAIA Prime, and she had seen how different the metal world compared to her own world. When Elisabet was satisfied with her observation of Meridian, the two of them crossed over the bridge to the Palace of the Sun, and made their way to Avad, pausing only momentarily at the entrance to the Throne.

"Wait here for just a moment. I'll talk with Avad and Erend, prep them on the situation, and then I'll wave you in. Okay?" Aloy asked as she looked at Elisabet.

"Fair enough. Don't want to spook them too much I guess." Elisabet replied with a grin as she looked at Aloy, who returned the smile.

Aloy turned and made her way up the stairs to Avad's throne, greeting both him and Erend as she approached.

"Aloy, I didn't think I'd see you in Meridian quite so soon. What brings you?" Avad asked after he'd properly greeted her.

"A favor, if you'd allow me to ask of one." Aloy replied with a nod of her head.

"Of course. I wouldn't deny you that after you've done so much for Meridian's sake." Avad replied as he waved Blameless Marad over.

"I appreciate your kindness Avad. Which brings me to my request." Aloy paused, not quite sure how she intended to begin to ask Avad to provide Elisabet with a place to stay while she traveled to Ban-Ur.

"What is it Aloy? Do you need a place to stay for a while?" Erend asked, worried about his friend's silence. While Aloy was usually quiet at first, she knew both Avad and himself, and he was worried that she wasn't saying a word to either of them.

"Kind of. I suppose I should explain first. You see, on my last trip out to the what was called the GAIA Prime facility, further North of here, and surrounded by machines, I found a new chamber that I hadn't discovered previously." Aloy began, pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"That smoking hole in the mountain?" Erend asked, recalling the few times he had seen the facility from a safe distance.

"Yes. I remember telling you about it at least once before." Aloy confirmed as she looked over to Erend.

"What about this chamber Aloy?" Avad asked, bringing the two of them back to the original conversation.

"Right, anyways, there is an intelligence, as the old ones called it, that is still harbored at the facility. It led me to the chamber, and inside I found a tube that contained a body. The body was one of the old ones, and she was very much alive. The intelligence woke her from a process called cryo-sleep, and I introduced her to our world. She's here with me now." Aloy finished, looking between Avad and Erend, waiting for either of them to respond.

The two men looked at her, then at each other, then back to her before Avad finally cleared his throat. Aloy could feel the tiny beads of sweat prickling on the back of her neck from the anticipation.

"One of the old ones? I didn't think there was any possible way that any of them could have survived to our time. We don't even know for sure how long ago their time was." Avad finally spoke; his voice trembled in amazement.

"It's been over nine hundred years since they were killed by the machines. The only reason that she's here now is because they had different, more advanced technology. Do you remember the cannons that Petra built for us in the fight against Hades?" Aloy asked as she finished her explanation.

"Yes, of course. The same machinery that was used against Meridian to end my father's reign. What about them?" Avad retorted, now curious as to where Aloy's example was going.

"The technology that they had in their time was far beyond what even the Oseram are able to create. It is no surprise that an old one could survive for so long without dying. The means of survival that they could accomplish… It's exceeds our understanding, Avad." Aloy concluded, hoping that the two of them understood her rushed explanation.

"So this woman could survive through the use of some high strung machinery?" Erend asked, not even bothering to call it what it was.

"Basically. It would make sense if I showed you, but the trek past the machines is hard enough, even if you're careful not to disrupt them. The climb up the mountain can be just a treacherous." Aloy replied.

"So what would you like me to do, Aloy? A history lesson isn't exactly what I was expecting when you came asking for a favor." Avad spoke, a laugh escaping as he looked at her.

"Right… I wanted to ask you if she could stay here for a while. I have been asked to go to Ban-Ur to talk with the Shamans about some new machines that are migrating closer to the Sacred Lands, and I was never intending to let her stay so close to the Nora without proper guard. Only one other person knows about her, but I fear he will tell the Matriarchs everything and where she is staying if I would have left her there alone." Aloy could only mutter out the last few words because, even though she trusted Varl, this was an entirely new game that she had no idea how to handle yet.

"Bring her here, please." Avad asked as he looked at Aloy's now melancholy expression.

Aloy did as she was asked, and turning back to look at Elisabet, she waved the elder woman over. Elisabet could feel her heart hammering in her chest. This world was entirely new to her, and she was not sure what to expect from the other inhabitants of it, excluding Aloy since she was a re-instantiation of her own DNA. She swallowed her fear and made her way to Aloy's side, now standing before the man that she believed was Avad. She gazed at him with a critical eye, surveying the young man before her. He stood from his throne to gaze upon her, and looked between Aloy and herself, trying to piece together their close identities. Elisabet felt compelled to explain it to him, but Avad spoke before she could utter a word.

"Aloy, you two look identical. Well, except for your hair. This is the woman that you found?" He asked, looking again between the two of them.

"Yes, and no, I am not related to her by birth." Elisabet felt the sting in Aloy's words, even if it wasn't meant to be that way.

"What do you mean?"

"I was… Created… From her DNA. DNA is, as it was explained to me, what you share with your parents. It's what gives you your looks and build. I was born to serve a purpose, and it was to destroy Hades, and to find what is causing the machines to continue going rogue. In order to be able to do that, I had to have the same DNA as the woman before you, whose name is Elisabet." Aloy concluded as she looked at Avad, who was staring at Elisabet.

"I'd never have thought that I would ever be able to stand before one of the old ones. This is truly a blessing of the Sun." Avad spoke softly as he took Elisabet's hand in his.

"Bear in mind, she knows only what I've told her. It would be in her interest if you would tell her about the Sundom, seeing as I am probably the least qualified person to do that." Aloy said as she took in the sight before her, clearly recalling the time that Avad confused his feelings for her in the wake of Ersa's death.

"Of course. It would be my honor to share my wisdom of the Sundom with her." Avad concluded as he released Elisabet's hand.

"I am appreciative of your kindness, Avad." Elisabet spoke, eyes locked with Avad.

"Your Grace, might I suggest the apartment of Delvin for her use?" Marad asked as he came to stand beside Avad.

"Yes, make all preparations necessary for its immediate use." Avad replied with a nod of his head.

"As you wish."

"Now, Aloy, tell me about this journey of yours, and how long it could take." Avad spoke, taking his eyes from Elisabet to Aloy.

"I'll tell you what I know." Aloy replied as she leaned against the banister beside the throne.


End file.
